


Litha (or: Midsummer Night's Eve)

by nerdyydragon



Series: What Lurks in Shadow [7]
Category: Kingsman (2014), Kingsman (2015), Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Eggsy & Roxy Friendship, Gen, Implied Harry Hart | Galahad/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, Pagan Festivals, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-22 22:37:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11389854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdyydragon/pseuds/nerdyydragon
Summary: People often associate Midsummer with merrymaking, drinking, and all around uninhibited revelry - and it is, these things included in the reaffirmation of faith and the celebration of the return of the sun god's full power. But youth is an interesting thing, and the latter often falls away (though, thankfully, with less "turning people into donkey-headed fools").





	Litha (or: Midsummer Night's Eve)

**Author's Note:**

> Tried something a little bit different this time, with the POV, since I don't generally write her. But we'll see how this goes - as always, comments and kudos are always appreciated! x

London, with its dreary grey sky and towering horizon as far as the eye could see, made it difficult to celebrate the arrival of the midsummer solstice, because even with the intermittent heat waves it simply didn’t feel green enough to be summer. So every June covens and communities would drive out to the country to celebrate, bringing with them a seemingly endless supply of fresh vegetables and fruits grown on rooftop gardens and special platters to be laid out on long tables in a clearing for the festivities, alongside roaring bonfires that may or may not be against a few laws, but nobody really cared all that much.

 Although less popular among the older generation, those newly initiated or finally old enough by any standard would make their own trips, smuggling in kegs of mulled ciders and wines under the affirmations that “technically they _were_ fruits,” because if you had asked anyone under the age of thirty, it wasn’t a party unless you were drunk enough to fall into the fire.

 “Eggsy, hurry up already. We’re going to be late, and I don’t want to be on the road with this after dark.” Roxy checked her watch again as she leaned against the passenger door of the truck, carefully eyeing the tarp ties that covered the kegs in the back. Where Eggsy had managed to procure such a wide-bed pickup was a question she didn’t really want an answer to, because often her friend and eventual flatmate was doing things that weren’t necessarily on the right side of the law. She checked her watch again as she tried to convince herself that it was on loan from a friend of his. 

 “Yeah, yeah, don’t get your knickers in a twist Rox, I’m right here.” Eggsy came around the other side of the truck and she rolled her eyes at his cheeky grin. Opening the door she hopped inside, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he started the engine and snapped his seatbelt on, tapping buttons on the radio before _finally_ putting it in drive and getting on their way. It wasn’t necessarily a long drive, where they were going, but Roxy had some apprehensions about hauling so much alcohol through what was left of the London corporate limits before they reached open green.

 Watching the shadows dance through alleys as they zipped through traffic as fast as Eggsy could go without raising suspicion, Roxy let the steady hum of the engine lull her into a nap. _Just five minutes_ , she thought as she cushioned her head against the door with her forearm, before she was being rudely shaken not moments later.

 “Hey there sleeping beauty,” Eggsy chuckled as she blinked at him, trying to adjust to the dim light of the treed canopy they were parked under. “About time you joined me.”

 “Are we there already?” Eggsy nodded.

 “You were out like a light before we even left the city. C’mon, help me unload the rest of this stuff.” Eggsy hopped down from the side board as Roxy shook her head and tried to wake up properly, fighting off the grogginess as she unbuckled her seatbelt and followed Eggsy around to the back. Of the six kegs they had managed to fit in the back of the truck, there were two left, and she watched as two guys about her age nabbed one. When they cleared out of the way, Roxy reached forward and grabbed the side handle of the last one, grateful that it rocked forward easily enough without her having to brace against anything.

 “Need a little help?” Normally when that question was asked Roxy would roll her eyes at whichever upper class Ivy league “bro” (as Eggsy called them) had asked her that question, and then look them dead in the eye as she proceeded to do it herself. But she paused and looked over her shoulder at the sound of this voice, taking in the small woman with big dark eyes and equally dark, long hair, who was sporting a wry smirk. Pulling the keg the rest of the way to the edge of the truck bed, Roxy nodded.

 “Be my guest.” She watched as the other woman bounded gracefully forward and took the other set of handles, making eye contact briefly before nodding and hoisting the keg off the truck, careful not to drop it as they carried it to where the others had been set up. Standing it upright and setting it on the grass, Roxy rolled out her shoulders before giving the other woman a smile and sticking out her hand. “I’m Roxanne, but you can call me Roxy.”

 “I’m Gazelle.” Roxy tried not to chuckle at how fitting her name was and focused instead on the strong handshake she received, interrupted by Eggsy and another young man she couldn’t quite place.

 “There you are, Rox. Was wondering where you got off to.” Roxy rolled her eyes at Eggsy’s smirk as he glanced between her and Gazelle, shifting her attention to the only member of their little group whose name she didn’t know.

 “I’m Harry,” he said, picking up on her stare. Shaking his offered hand, Roxy studied him for a moment before raising her eyebrows.

 “Oh _you’re_ Harry!” She replied, and next to her she could see Eggsy sag in mortified understanding. “Well it’s about time I met you properly, I’ve certainly heard enough of you.” She grinned. “Enough _about_ you, my apologies.” Harry laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking for all the world as though he would rather never speak to anyone ever again, and perhaps become one with the trees while he was at it. Eggsy was studying the ground and likely hoping it would swallow him, red to the tips of his ears.

 “Eggsy, did you leave these two ladies to carry all of this wine by themselves?” Gazelle laughed at Harry’s attempt at changing the subject, and Roxy tried to keep her head from snapping to the sound of it.

 “We are stronger than we look, Harry.” Her voice was flat but there was laughter in her eyes, sending a quick wink Roxy’s way. “But it was only the one, if you really are that concerned.”

 A group of coven members jogged past them suddenly on their way to the serving table, likely late and starving - the four of them noticing now that the sun had begun to dip below the horizon and that the festivities were in full swing, fires blazing - and one knocked Roxy off balance in their haste. She could feel arms around her, quick to catch her, and heat against her back before either Harry or Eggsy could move to give the offender a what-for. Roxy brushed her hair out of her face and looked up. Gazelle was looking down at her with a wry smile on her face, hands sliding down to push into her waist and haul her back up. Regaining her balance, Roxy steadied herself and sent the other woman a grateful look.

 “Well, it was nice meeting all of you,” Gazelle said, her gaze lingering on Roxy, “but I promised my cousin that I would go and say hello when I could, so I will hopefully see the three of you later.” She smiled at them and made her way towards the bonfire, turning briefly to look over her shoulder as though she could feel Roxy’s eyes on her back before disappearing into the smoky haze behind the flames. When Roxy returned her attention to her friends, Harry and Eggsy shared a conspiratorial moment of understanding before smiling at her, the corner of Eggsy’s mouth pulling up in a way that could only spell trouble for her.

 “So she was cute, yeah?”

 “ _Eggsy._ ”


End file.
